The detainees, none of whom are Cameroonian citizens, all had protection orders from U.S. courts barring them from being sent to their home countries for fear of persecution, The New York Times reported. The journalists were separated from the lawyer and taken to the country’s judicial police headquarters to be interrogated.
Three of the journalists are based in Cameroon and were on assignment for the Associated Press. The other journalist is Randy Joe Sa’ah, a freelancer who has worker for the BBC. The AP told the Times that the reporter was slapped but not seriously injured, although Sa’ah and the attorney, Joseph Awah Fru, said that the reporter appeared to have been beaten up and told him that he was attacked by police.
Some of the journalists were held in a cell for hours, Fru and Sa’ah said. Police took their cameras, laptops and phones before releasing them, claiming they contained sensitive government information. The Times unsuccessfully tried to reach police and the Cameroonian Ministry of Justice, and it’s not known if any of the five men face legal charges.